(For those interested this question is also at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14191855/how-do-you-fake-the-time-for-boost-timers)

Hi all,

If possible, how do you fake the time for the purpose of triggering boost timers in a unit test?

For example, is it possible to achieve something like the following:

#include <iostream>
#include <boost/asio.hpp>
#include <boost/date_time/posix_time/posix_time.hpp>

void print(const boost::system::error_code& /*e*/)
{
  std::cout << "Hello, world!\n";
}

int main()
{
    boost::asio::io_service io;        // Possibly another class needed here, or a way of setting the clock to be fake

    boost::asio::deadline_timer t(io, boost::posix_time::hours(24));
    t.async_wait(&print);

    io.poll();  // Nothing should happen - no handlers ready

    // PSEUDO-CODE below of what I'd like to happen, jump ahead 24 hours
    io.set_time(io.get_time() + boost::posix_time::hours(24));

    io.poll();  // The timer should go off

    return 0;
}

I'm aware I could wrap the io_service and deadline_timer in a wrapper and write my own test implementation, thus providing the real and test version to the production code I'm trying to test.

What I'm hoping is the boost framework allows a way to create an io service that is related to a fake clock rather than the system time, meaning I don't need to create my own wrappers.

I should also point out that the docs indicate providing something like my own WaitableTimerService orTimerService may be the way to go, but I can't see which one (if any) is responsible for providing the clock.

Any tips appreciated!

Josh.